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Full-Text Articles in Law

Clearing The Air In Copenhagen, Richard Faulk Dec 2009

Clearing The Air In Copenhagen, Richard Faulk

Richard Faulk

As I prepare to depart for the Copenhagen climate change conference, the entire process seems awash in doubt, confusion, and controversy. Despite the grand hopes of many members of the international community, including many respected politicians and scientists, even the most optimistic advocates concede that it will be impossible to secure a comprehensive and binding climate change agreement. Instead, the delegates will seek a consensus that will guide the drafting and presentation of a formal treaty sometime in 2010, either in Bonn or in Mexico City.


What’S It To You?: The Difficulty Of Valuing The Benefits Of Climate- Change Mitigation And The Need For A Public-Goods Test Under Dormant Commerce Clause Analysis, Mary B. Russell Jan 2009

What’S It To You?: The Difficulty Of Valuing The Benefits Of Climate- Change Mitigation And The Need For A Public-Goods Test Under Dormant Commerce Clause Analysis, Mary B. Russell

Mary B. Russell

ABSTRACT: In an effort to minimize its contribution to climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, California enacted California Senate Bill 1368. The bill prohibits utilities from purchasing electrical power from plants that emit more greenhouse gases than natural-gas-fired power plants. This burdens interstate commerce by prohibiting power purchases from out- of-state coal-fired plants and is likely to lead to a constitutional challenge under the dormant Commerce Clause. To address the validity of California Senate Bill 1368 under traditional dormant Commerce Clause analysis, one necessary step is to answer a question that has troubled scientists and economists for decades: What …


Ecosystem Resilience To Disruptions Linked To Global Climate Change: An Adaptive Approach To Federal Land Management, Robert L. Glicksman Jan 2009

Ecosystem Resilience To Disruptions Linked To Global Climate Change: An Adaptive Approach To Federal Land Management, Robert L. Glicksman

Robert L. Glicksman

Global climate change presents daunting challenges to the federal government’s ability to manage its lands and resources in ways that ensure that the priceless natural heritage that these land and resources comprise remains available in substantially unimpaired condition to both present and future generations of Americans. One of the challenges results from the fact that the laws governing the activities of federal land management agencies have outlasted the scientific assumptions on which those laws were based. In particular, Congress adopted many of those laws on the assumption that ecological systems tend toward a natural equilibrium. Subsequently, the science of ecology …


Adaptation, Economics, And Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick Jan 2009

Adaptation, Economics, And Justice, Robert R.M. Verchick

Robert R.M. Verchick

No abstract provided.


Epa's Endangerment Finding For Greenhouse Gases And The Potential Duty To Adopt National Ambient Air Quality Standards To Address Global Climate Change, Patricia Ross Mccubbin Jan 2009

Epa's Endangerment Finding For Greenhouse Gases And The Potential Duty To Adopt National Ambient Air Quality Standards To Address Global Climate Change, Patricia Ross Mccubbin

Patricia Ross McCubbin

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) recently announced its intention to make a finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gases from new cars and light trucks endanger the public health and welfare by contributing to global climate change. That proposed endangerment finding and the vehicle emission standards that will follow are highly controversial, with industry representatives vigorously challenging EPA’s scientific conclusions. Of even greater controversy, however, is the possibility that issuance of the final endangerment finding will obligate EPA and the states to regulate greenhouse gases from nearly every sector of the economy with “national …


Carbon Regulation And Its Impact On The Appalachian Basin: Why The Coal-Fired Energy Industry In Appalachia Should Embrace, Prepare For, And Help Shape A Comprehensive Legislative Scheme That Limits Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Mark L. Belleville Jan 2009

Carbon Regulation And Its Impact On The Appalachian Basin: Why The Coal-Fired Energy Industry In Appalachia Should Embrace, Prepare For, And Help Shape A Comprehensive Legislative Scheme That Limits Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Mark L. Belleville

Mark L. Belleville

The premise of this article – the coal-fired energy industry in Appalachia should embrace, prepare for, and help shape a comprehensive federal legislative scheme that limits carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions – may sound counterintuitive. Why would an industry that emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) get on board with a national plan to limit GHG emissions? The reason is threefold. First, some form of regulation limiting emissions is inevitable. Second, in many respects, a comprehensive federal scheme is preferable to the current patchwork that exists. Finally, a comprehensive federal scheme can be tailored to be advantageous (or at least …


Climate Change Litigation: Opening The Door To The International Court Of Justice, Andrew L. Strauss Dec 2008

Climate Change Litigation: Opening The Door To The International Court Of Justice, Andrew L. Strauss

Andrew L. Strauss

This chapter examines the potential for the International Court of Justice to serve as a forum for climate change litigation. It begins by assessing the potential legal and political implications of an International Court of Justice decision on climate change. It then proceeds to evaluate various jurisdictional basis upon which the Court could agree to hear cases implicating climate change. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of the law the law applicable to climate change litigation before the Court.